You Forgot Your Newspaper
Dawn went to the same cafe every morning, ordered the same thing—a hot mocha with caramel and whipped cream—and was quick to grab her cup and rush out the door, usually running a bit late to whatever she had planned for the day. Most days she was teaching children about the basics of contests at the local contest hall; but somedays she had private appointments with people of all ages looking to learn a thing or two from the Top Coordinator.
This morning, however, was a bit different. As she waited on her drink, something told her to take a look around. The cafe was usually pretty full, but today it seemed extra packed, almost every table had at least two people sitting at it, except for one. A boy in a black baseball cap with dark eyes was sitting alone at a table in the back of the cafe, she was quick to notice as she knew those eyes, but did wonder why he was hiding his purple hair under a hat.
"Excuse me?" she asked as she turned on her heel to look at the barista. "Can you add a banana nut muffin to my order? I'm sorry, I didn't realize how hungry I was before," she admitted sheepishly as she watched the young girl put the lid on her drink.
"It's on us," the barista said with a smile as she handed Dawn her cup and a small paper bag.
Dawn bowed her head in thanks and smiled before quickly searching the small room for the boy she had seen moments before. As soon as she spotted his table again she took a moment to sip her coffee and then quickly made a bee line for him.
"Long time so see, Pau—" she started as she pulled the chair opposite of him out from under the table.
"Shush," Paul said quickly, putting a finger to his lips. "Don't say my name," he said as his eyes darted around the cafe to make sure no one had heard her.
"Why can't I say your—"
"Shut up," he whispered, his voice was frustrated. "Just sit down or leave."
Dawn looked around to try and figure out why he was acting so weird. When she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary she gave him a skeptical look and opened her mouth to again question him, this time about whether he was hiding his hair or if he had cut it.
"Just sit down," he sneered through gritted teeth, his eyes piercing into hers.
Dawn rolled her eyes and plopped herself on the chair. "Okay, now explain why you're being such a weirdo," she leaned forward and whispered. She never thought of him as a super normal guy, but as she pulled her muffin out of her bag she couldn't help but think she had never seen him this weird.
Paul gave her no audible response but instead shoved the newspaper he had been looking at in front of her. He pointed his finger at the title of the front page article that read, "NEW CHAMPION IN SINNOH".
Dawn's chewing slowed as she pulled the newspaper closer to her, her eyes scanning a photo of Paul, minus the weird baseball cap, opposite of Cynthia. She covered her mouth and swallowed her food before asking, "You're the new champion of Sinnoh?" a little too loudly.
Paul instantly shushed her again, checking to see how many pairs of eyes were on them. He let out a breath as the few people who had looked over either didn't recognize him or didn't care. "Troublesome," he mumbled under his breath as he pulled the newspaper back towards him.
"Oh, you are not gonna start that crap again," Dawn angrily whispered, crumbs flying out of her mouth. "Why did you even challenge Cynthia if you didn't want to become champion?" she widened her eyes for emphasis as she said Cynthia's name. "You didn't think it would be a big deal? Multiple elite four members have challenged her for the spot and lost. She's been champion for, like," she paused as she chewed and tried to think of a timespan, "ever."
Paul took a breath to calm himself and pulled his cap lower. "I just wanted the challenge, I don't want this bullshit fa—" he stopped himself as he heard the bell above the door ring, his hair popping out from under his hat slightly as he whipped his head to the right to see who was coming in.
Dawn bit her lip to keep from giggling as she watched his paranoid actions. "I really don't think you need to be so drastic," she said softly, trying to be understanding. "I've been Top Coordinator in a few regions and it's always pretty fun."
"I got stopped by three different kids this morning," he grumbled as he rolled his eyes.
Dawn put her forefinger under her chin and hummed. "I have an idea," she said, pausing to take a bite of her muffin. "You should just deal with it for a little while and once everyone sees how cold and mean you are"—she shrugged as she took another bite—"no one will be interested."
Paul glared at her and took a sip of his coffee. "Don't talk with your mouth full," he spat as he set his cup back on the table a little too loudly.
Dawn sighed and offered him a smile. "It was a joke, Paul," she conceded as she put her hands in the air. "If I were you, I would be more worried about all the responsibilities," she said as she cocked her head to the side, thinking of all the different things she had seen Cynthia deal with over her years as Champion. "It seems so stressful to be in charge of gym leaders and all that stuff."
Paul mulled over he words and shifted his gaze to the windows along the wall of the cafe. "I have to stay here for a full year," he stated, seemingly annoyed at the thought. "I wanted to get back to Kanto."
Her usual smile faded as she realized he was referring to battling Brandon again. "You don't have to challenge him every year," she offered, crumpling up her muffin wrapper and the paper bag it was given to her in. "You've beat him twice now," she said softly as she reached across the table and placed a hand on his.
"And I would like to again," he insisted, his eyes flicking to her hand and then back to the window. Battling Brandon had been a constant in his life since he watched his brother lose and he found comfort in the goal of defeating him. He would probably never acknowledge it to anyone, not even himself, but he enjoyed that the rivalry had become friendly and their battle had become annual.
"I remember running into you the last time you defeated him," she recalled as she pulled her hand back and leaned against her chair. "You were so determined and you still had a pokemon to spare," she mused fondly, looking towards the ceiling as she pictured the battle in her mind.
"I remember you wouldn't shut up the whole battle," he muttered before tipping his cup back and finishing his coffee.
"Well," she snapped, slamming her own empty cup onto the table, "excuse me for being a good friend and cheering you on. You didn't bother to come see me when I was in the Grand Festival." After a pause she decided to add, "I won that year too!"
Paul's thoughts hovered over her use of the word "friend" longer than he expected them to. He wasn't one for friends but over the years of running into each other they seemed to create some sort of civil relationship between themselves. Every time they bumped into one another she was always excited to ask him about his journey and over time he had found it slightly comforting, albeit annoying at times.
"Is there something on my face?" Dawn asked, pulling him from his thoughts, he hadn't noticed he was staring at her. "I mean, I know I kind of rushed out the door this morning but it can't be that bad," she continued before rooting around in her purse for her mirror.
"Thanks," he said, pushing his chair out from under the table and standing up. He crumpled his cup and adjusted his baseball cap before rounding the table.
Dawn looked up at him, her right hand still shoved into her purse. "For what?" she asked, catching his eyes for just a moment as he walked past her.
He offered her a simple shrug and continued towards the front door, only pausing to toss his cup in to the trash can. As he pushed his way through the doors Dawn let out a huff and rolled her eyes, she hated when he just left in the middle of a conversation.
"You forgot your newspaper," she mumbled as she pulled the paper towards her. A smile replaced her sour expression as she looked at the photo of Cynthia and Paul again. It was weird to her how proud she felt, it was more so than the time she found out Ash had become Champion of Johto. "I'm sure he'll want this one day," she said to herself as she folded the newspaper and stuffed it into her bag. It wouldn't be the first thing she had saved for him and it probably wouldn't be the last.
I might have a small head canon that Dawn and Paul run into each other a lot and that they start to understand each other even if they don't always speak on everything. :shurg
also I have a mac so when I saved it as a doc on here it had a bunch of formatting issues and, of course, I edited some stuff last minute before saving and realizing there would be issues. so sorry for typos but I've already stayed up too late and I think I got them all.